Detox and Danger!
Stumbling through the internet you can find your self reading articles or watching videos about detox's and cleanses. People claiming to loose weight and rid their body of toxins by going through a detox diet such as a 'mono-fruit detox' or a 'juice cleanse'.
These are complete nonsense.
Your body already does a good job of clearing out toxins, you don't need a detox. Just eat right and you'll be fine.
So what's the danger?
The danger is that people go on these fad diets and either end up restricting the variety of foods they eat causing them to miss out on key nutrients or they end up in a severe caloric deficit where they lose weight at an unhealthy and unsustainable rate. Take the 'mono-fruit detox', eating one type of fruit and nothing else for a week means you won't be consuming anywhere near enough fat for that week. You will also miss out on many vital nutrients and minerals for the week.
Unfortunately people are sucked into these diets by people claiming "Open your mind to try new things", or ''don't believe the mainstream science''. All this translates to is opening your mind to ignorance and ignore the scientific consensus.
This is a clever piece of marketing I have to admit, as being open minded is often a good trait, however being open minded to absurd claims which lack evidence is nothing more than being gullible. Using the word mainstream in this context is an attempt to bring out the 'hipster' in you by convincing you the best thing to do is go against the flow. However, science is evidence based, this means is it as far as we can tell, factual. To go against it for the sake of originality is absurd.
Enjoy your fruit and have your smoothies, don't skip the variety and balance. Share with your friends to save them from falling for the fad.
References
BBC News, (2017). Doctors issues new year detox health warning. [Online]. [03/01/2017]. Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38495088
Toovey, O., T., R., Edmond, I.,R and Makis, N. (2016). Acute severe hyponatraemia secondary to polydipsia and associated herbal remedy use. BMJ Case Report. http://casereports.bmj.com/content/2016/bcr-2016-216348.abstract
